Ice-cream cabinet attachment



g- 1954 M. E. WEISS 2,535,930

ICE-CREAM CABINET ATTACHMENT I Filed July 15, 1950 2 SheetsSheet lINVENTOR.

183 MAXIMiLI OU E WEISS HIS nTfmn/Ev Aug. 10, 1954 M. E. WEISS ICE-CREAMCABINET ATTACHMENT Filed July 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I r-mH/m II! mgw - INVENTOR.

MAXIMILION E. WEISS HIS ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1954 UNITED STATESFATE-NT 2 Claims.

l My invention is an attachment for preventing the turning and twistingof an ice-cream carton in a. refrigerating cabinet while ice-cream isbeing scooped therefrom, and in its preferred form it comprises one ormore grips. for engaging the rim of a carton and a rim for supportingthe grips and which is expansible and oontraotible to facilitate theinsertion or the removal of the rim from the cabinet and provide asecure engagement between the rim and the cabinet.

Ice-cream is commonly vended to dealersin cylindrical paper-boardcartons having reinsought to clamp the carton to a base with sufficientforce to prevent rotation, the paper-board walls tend to bulge orcollapse under the stress as the carton is emptied.

A leading object of my invention is to prevent the rotationrof a cartonwithout applying sulficient force lengthwise thereof to buckle itswalls. A further object of my invention is to provide an attachment forpreventing the rotation of a carton without itself becoming irremovablyfrosted to the cabinet or to the carton. A further object of myinvention is to provide an attachment which is readily insertable intoand removable from the cabinet and adaptable for securing cartons ofdifferent heights against rotation.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, a carton is held againstrotation by the engagement of its reinforced rimin narrow rectangularslots formed by jaws of grips comprising leaves hingedly connected witha contractible and expansible rim which may be readily inserted in thewell of a cabinet and expanded against thewalls thereof in position toencircle one or morecartons in the well. The grips are preferablylocated on indented sections of the rim spaced; from the cabinet wall soas to minimize the transmission of heat and the accumulation of frostaround the grip and the rim is contractible and expansible by rack andpinion mechanism so that the rim can be firmly secured against thecabinet wall or released therefrom despite any frosting between the rimand wall.

The principles of my invention and the best mode in which I havecontemplated applying such principles will further appear from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings in illustrationthereof.

Inthe drawings, Fig. 1 is a top perspective View of an ice-cream cabinethaving the covers broken away to display attachments embodying myinvention and cartons secured thereby; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of theright-hand portion of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is afragmentary sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 to show therack and pinion mechanism for expanding and contracting the rim of myattachment; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through the rim of myattachment taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a transversesectional view taken on the line 5 "-5.0f Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is an enlargedfragmentary view showing one of the grips of my attachment engaging acarton rim; Fig. 7 is an irregular fragmentary sectional view taken onthe line 'I! of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 isan irregular sectional view showing acatch of my attachment rocked upward out of engagement with a cartonwith whichit is connected in Fig '7; Fig. -9 is a fragmentary elevationof a grip of my attachment taken on the line 9-9 of Fig, 6 with thecarton removed; Fi 10 is a transverse sectional view taken on the linel0l0 of Fig. 2 and Fig 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on theline H-ll of Fig. 2.

In the drawings there is shown a conventional ice-cream cabinet. Icontaining rectangular refrigeratingcompartments or wells 2 surroundedby walls 3, and which may but need not be separated from one another bypartitions 4 extending downwardly to the bottom of the cabinet.

The wells 2 are ordinarily filled with cylindrical ice-cream cartons 5whose height sometimes approximates the depth of the well, but morefrequently shorter car-tons are stacked on top of one another asindicated in Fig. 1. These cylindrical cartons are ordinarily made ofpaper-board reinforced by flexible metallic rims 5 bent over the upperedges of the cylindrical walls of the cartons. The cartons areordinarily filled with frozen comestibles, such as ice-cream, to withinashort distance of the top of the carton. The ice-cream is vended fromthe carton by digging into it with a scoop, which tends to turn andtwist the carton and displace it from its position in the well.

In accordance with my invention, this turning, twisting and displacementof the cartons is prevented by securlng one or more grips 6 to the rimof each container, and preferably at opposite sides thereof. Preferablyeach grip comprises a pair of leaves 7 and 7' hinged together by apintle 'i". The leaf 7 has its edge opposite the pintle 7 turneddownward to form a flange having a central portion 8 slit and bentoutward to provide a lift and leaving fingers 9 on opposite sidesthereof. Fingers 10 are out and bent downward from the leaf 1 in spacedsubstantially parallel relation to the fingers 9 to form therewith anarrow slotfor the reception of the rim of a carton. Preferably, theefiectivelength of the slot should subtend approximately of arc of therim 5' and the slot should be so narrow between the fingers 9 and H] asto require a slight deformation of the arc of the rim 5 to eifect itsinsertion in the slot. Such proportioningof the slot effectivelyprevents the sliding of the carton rim 5 therethrough. The leaf 7 may belocked in horizontal position by a substantially L-shaped latch llpivotally connected with the leaf 7' by one of the bolts 12 by whicheach leaf 7' is secured to an indented portion I3 of U-shaped rimsections 14 and 5. The section M has bolts 16 fixed in the opposite legsthereof and a wing nut ii is sleeved on and a wing nut i8 is threaded oneach bolt [5. The wing nut I! has a hub 19 provided with peripheralteeth 20 forming a pinion engaging teeth 2i on the upper side of .a slot22 in each leg of the rim section 15. Headed studs 23 have shanks 24passing through slots 25 in opposite legs of the section 15 and fixed inthe opposite legs of the section hi to permit the rec tilineal expansionand contraction of the rim formed by the sections I4 and 15 but preventthe turning of such sections-about the axes of the bolts 16.

The cross bars of the sections 14 and 15 are provided with knurledsurfaces 2% for frictionally gripping the end walls of the Wells 4, andthe curved corners 27 adjacent to the ends of the knurled surfaces 25are grooved to form reinforcing ribs 28 to add rigidity to thestructure.

In utilizing my improved device, it is ordinarily preferable to firstdeposit the filled cartons in the Well of the cabinet and to then insertmy improved retaining device, above described, after rotating the wingnuts I? to constrict the overall length of the rim sufficiently topermit it to be lowered in the well until its top is approximately levelwith the upper edges of the cartons to be restrained. The wing nuts I!are turned to expand the rim sections 14 and 15 so as to engage theknurled surfaces 26 firmly against the end walls of the Well 4, and theWing nuts 18 are then tightened to secure the members [4 and H5 inexpanded position. Each leaf 7 is then turned to a horizontal positionsothat its fingers 9 and I0 grip the inner and outer surfaces of the rimof the carton. Each leaf may be then secured against disengagement withthe cation by turning the latch H into locking position. The spacing ofthe sections 13 and}? from the wall of the well and the engagement ofthe grips 8 with the carton above the ice-cream level minimizes anytendency to frosting, and suchslight frosting as may takeplace maybereadily broken by applying upward pressure to the lifts 8 and partial-1y unscrewing the wing nuts I8 and turning the wing nuts 11 to transmittorque through the pinion teeth 20 to the rack teeth 2! and therebycontract the rim sections l4 and I5. The cartons are securely held by myimproved device against turning or displacement without the impositionof stresses tending to bulge or distort the paper walls, and when theupper cartons have been emptied they may be removedby merely unlatchingthe latches H and turning the leaves I upward. If the exhausted cartonsare replaced with cartons of the same height the leaves I may be rockedinto locking position and latched by the latches Ii without anydetachment of the rim sections 14 and [5, or if cartons of differentheight are inserted, or the lower layer of cartons are to be used, therim sections l4 and I5 may be contracted and lowered to appropriateposition and then expanded and secured at a level permitting the fingers9 and 10 to grip the walls of such cartons.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An attachment for preventing the rotation of a carton in a cabinetand comprising a rim consisting of a complementary pair of substantiallyU-shaped sections, one of said sections containing slots each having atoothed edge, pinions pivotally connected with the other ofsaid sectionsand each meshing with a toothed edge, clamps for securing the respectivepinions relatively to its respective complementary edge, said sectionseach having indented portions, and grips connected with said indentedportions and having jaws hinged to said indented portions for engagingthe rims of cartons encircled by said rim first named.

2. The combination with a cabinet having walls forming a well for acarton and a carton in said well, of an expansible rim expanded againstsaid walls, said rim having indented sections spaced from said walls,grips mounted on said indented sections each of said grips comprising aleaf hingedly connected with an indented portion of said rim andoverlying the wall of said carton within said well, said leaf having aflanged edge engaging in the inner wall of said carton and fingers bentdownwardly and engaging the outer wall of said carton, said flanged edgehaving a lip bent therefrom away from the inner wall of said carton.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 919,348 Harbin Apr. 27, 1909 1,056,669 Harris Mar. 18, 19132,152,634 Cornell Apr. 4, 1929 2,130,701 Thomas Sept. 20, 1938 2,298,577McPhail Oct. 13, 1942 2,346,446 Messier Apr. 11, 1944 2,399,498 MessickApr. 30, 1946 2,446,315 Williams Aug. 3, 1948 2,458,060 Clower Jan. 4,1949 2,498,016 Stine et a1. Feb. 21, 1950'

